Silver tongued Silence
by Roozenboom
Summary: As a fierce but mute warrior, you have always face the brunt of Loki's jokes regarding your capabilities. When his famous Silver Tongue is sowed shut as a punishment, guess who he has to turn to for help...
1. Chapter 1

**As a fierce but mute warrior, you have always face the brunt of Loki's jokes regarding your capabilities. When his famous Silver Tongue is sowed shut as a punishment, guess who he has to turn to for help.**

 **I got this imagine from the Imagine Loki page on Tumblr. Go check it out it is actually really awesome. I plan on posting this one there too, but as I want to post all chapters close to each other I will do that once I finished.**

 **I want to quickly remind you that this story takes place just before, during and after Thor receives Mjölnir. I am following the Norse Mythology with this one…**

* * *

'I see that I can have a quiet training today.' Loki snickered as he walked onto the training grounds where I was currently training. Loki, or actually prince Loki, had this nasty habit of looking down upon me. His patronizing behaviour was mostly just annoying, and I had enough smarts to not engage him about it, for as smart as he might be he would never understand. He was a prince after all, bred and raised to feel superior to those around, and boy did this one think so. I had some form of respect for him on the battle field, he was a fierce warrior and his skills were of notable rank, but that was where the respect ended.

From the day I were born it had become clear I would never be able to speak. My family was shocked and had treated me like a glass sculpture ever since. My brothers were allowed to train and go outside, but I as the only girl and not only that but a mute girl, wasn't supposed to leave the house. I acknowledged their need to protect me for the first hundred years of my life, but as I grew older I could no longer approve. I didn't want to live my life locked behind safe walls that started to feel like a prison, I wanted to live! To feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, the soft pull of the wind that whipped my hair. I wanted to be free. And so against my parents' wishes I started to train combat techniques.

It turned out I could handle myself around weapons better than any would have imagined. My strength had captured the eyes, or eye, off the allfather, and I was invited to train in the royal army. That invitation had been my safe card. With the money I earned as a soldier, I was able to move out. I had bought a small cottage in the woods close to the castle. It was about a ten minute walk to the castle, if you didn't linger in the beautiful forest. I almost always lingered and took about half an hour just to get to the palace.

I had taken the walk out here today, even though I had no guard duty, because I felt like training. Sure I could have simply trained at home, but it quickly became less fun to train by yourself. However I had arrived to find an empty field. It was still early in the morning after all but I had wanted to go swimming this afternoon, so it seemed like a wasted walk out here as I was still training alone.

I bowed to the prince as stiffly as I could, making sure he saw how much I disrespected him. I had to bow, it was part of my job, but that did not mean I respected the guy.

Today he was wearing a light, leather armour. His raven locks were tied into a short pony-tail and he was carrying his usual daggers on his hips. I knew he had many more hidden over his body, but even without those he was a fierce warrior when wielding his Seidr.

As always when Loki arrived, Thor was not far behind. The golden god of thunder seemed to shadow his younger and darker brother a lot. That was one thing I had always found ironic, to see the light follow the dark.

'The lady Kyra what a pleasant surprise to see you present today.'

I bowed deep towards Thor before smiling at the jubilant god. Thor was indeed far more fitting of my respect than his brother. He was still inexperienced in leading and gave himself too much credit, but that was something he would learn in time. He was a crown-prince after all, he would learn to keep his ego in check in order to properly lead Asgard and its soldiers.

Loki snickered. 'It is not really polite not to great your prince you know Lady Kyra. Such a silent treatment. hehehe'

I rolled my eyes. What a ludicrous thing to say my prince, I thought wishing I would be able to speak those words out loud.

I turned back to Thor, and put my hands in front of my chest, palms towards me and thumbs up. I slowly moved both my thumbs to the outside, seemingly sticking the out. It was a simple sign for 'how are you' that most people I frequently saw understood.

Thor smiled brightly. 'I am very well my Lady. I hope you are the same?'

I nodded and pointed at the training grounds. After a few days of training here it had become painfully clear that I needed some way to communicate the most basic of sentences. As a soldier I only had to follow my order, but without any form of communication it was hard to find any place I would fit in.

I had started with simple signs to communicate basic questions such as 'How are you', 'I don't understand' but also simple responses that went further than just nodding. This meant I could communicate fairly well with people I regularly saw. For the more difficult questions I would usually grab a notebook and write them out, or just search for the answer myself in a book. It was far from ideal, but it was better than anything I had ever had and I was fairly happy with this.

Thor motioned towards my double swords. 'Care to spar with me?' I nodded to him and Thor took out his big double edged sword. I was usually fighting with dual swords, which meant I had a sword in every hand. This put me at a disadvantage to soldiers who could use a shield, as I had less to protect my body with. Thor's sword however was meant to be wielded with two hands. It was a weapon that relied purely on the strength of its wielder and their skill to dodge their opponents attacks. The weapon fitted Thor very well. His combat style was opposite of mine, as was his weapon, and that made our little spars very interesting.

We were probably evenly matched, and I won as much as I lost. He might be a prince but that didn't mean I had to contain myself. It was because he was Thor, prince of Asgard that I didn't. He had to be strong.

'Are you sure you want to fight her brother? She can't even cry out in pain and defeat.'

I seriously started to wonder if Loki could do anything different than comment on the fact that I was mute. It would seem quite funny from his point of view with his famous Silver Tongue. I was not about to let him distract me though.

This spar was over fairly quick. Thor was in a blithesome mood which made him advance the first. I quickly used this against him, ducking below the first slash of his sword and twirling around towards his unprotected back. He had expected me to catch his sword with mine, so the lack of obstruction caught him by surprise. With a swift kick I accelerated his fall forward, helped by the strength he had put in his swing. With a hard thud the god of thunder fell on his stomach on the training grounds. Trying to get up, only to feel the sharp point of a sword biting in his neck.

The god smiled and raised his arms in defeat. 'I admit defeat my Lady.' He thundered over the training field. I raised my swords to safely tuck them away in their holding place, before stretching my hand towards the fallen god. Thor rolled over, and accepted my hand to get up.

'You are in prime condition my Lady. It is not usual for me to be defeated within seconds of starting a match.'

I bowed showing my thanks and respect. Would the prince have concentrated better he would surely be defeated less easily. The problem was that he had expected me to take a certain action when I had not. I could not tell him however, so simply thanking him for the spar was all I would do.

'Hehehe Brother I doubt I have ever seen anyone fall quite as elegant on their face as I did today.' The dark prince was laughing, almost toppled over, and holding his stomach. Tears were streaming down his face.

Before Thor could answer to this I had grabbed my swords from my back and was motioning Loki into the training ring. Loki scowled but accepted the challenge, as he walked towards me and grabbed his daggers.

'Remember brother, no using your Seidr.' The prince scowled even more at that. If Loki was allowed the privilege of using his magic, I wouldn't stand a chance. No one would and thus the rule had been set that he couldn't. Some exceptions were made, seeing as he had to train while using magic once in a while to not lose his skill, but other than that magic was a no go.

This match took a while longer, and I really struggled against the prince. As I had said he was a fierce and skilled warrior, even without magic. The result however was the same, the prince biting the dust of the field.

It would be a lie to say I weren't slightly happy about that. Loki and I rarely sparred, but when we did it was usually him taking the win. I had been training very hard for weeks now to try and break through the ceiling I was hiccupping against. It seemed I had finally gained some skills.

As was the custom, I stretched my arm to help him up. Loki however was having none of it and simply glared my way before standing up himself. His pride had clearly took quite the hit. It probably did not help that his brother was laughing as loud as the thunder itself just a few feet away. Deciding his pride had been hurt enough, I deeply bowed to show my thanks and appreciation. This seemed to only anger the dark prince more.

'I do not need you to show your respect to me when you clearly cheated in this match!' He growled to me.

'Brother you can't be seriously implying what I think you are. The match was in good sports, and the Lady won. There is no shame in admitting defeat to a strong opponent.' Thor stepped in. I nodded to him, showing my thanks. I had no way of defending myself without talking and he knew that.

'I do not admit defeat to her.' Loki growled.

Thor was about to argue with his brother but I stopped him with my hand on his shoulder. This was not something the princes should argue about, they were brothers after all, I did not wish to cause a fight.

With my right hand I drew a circle over my heart, the sign for sorry. I did not know what I was exactly apologizing for, maybe it wasn't for anything, but the prince seemed to calm a bit.

'I am glad you apologise for cheating. Though it is a silent apology I will accept it.'

I only just managed to suppress the urge to roll my eyes. That would most certainly not better the situation. Loki was pretty much stuck on his high horse and it would take an army to get him down from there. The idea of him being beaten by a mere soldier, one without a voice even, wasn't something he would accept.

With a simple wave to Thor I excused myself from the training ground. Maybe it was better to train on my own after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Guarding was probably the most mundane part of my job. I disliked standing around, and had soon discovered that a mute guard wasn't much of a guard either. It was not like I could just scream to my colleagues for help. That did not mean that I wasn't going to do my duty though, just because something is challenging, does not make it impossible. I always carried a small, golden whistle around. It had been forged especially for me on Svartalfheim by the dwarves. The magic weaved through the gold allowed me to make a range of sounds, depending on the situation. I could pick from obnoxious and deafening to a soft warning.

I did not use it that often though and usually just kicked any problems down myself, though I doubted I could handle an invasion from the frost giants, I was usually just fine by myself.

Today however I did not have to stand staring at the same door, or marching the same area for hours. Today I was assigned somewhere different. Today was one of those days that made you love your job.

There had been some suspicious behaviour near the castle and the Allfather had decided to up the security. That meant that more soldiers and guards were marching the castle. They had no need of me inside so I was assigned to patrol through the forest at the edge of the castle, and report back any suspicious behaviour. This meant I was allowed to take one of the horses from the stable, and ride all day through the forest. It might not be a fun ride around the beautiful country, I was still on duty, but boy did it feel like that.

After changing into another outfit that was more suited for riding, I practically skipped towards the stables. I loved horses and I most certainly didn't mind my assignment for today. I got more and more of these assignments as of late. Not being able to speak had forced me to pay better attention to my surroundings, and thus I was one of the best when it came to finding information in the smallest detail. I was also quite skilled at tracking and had been riding horses since I had been young. Those magnificent creatures had always surprised me. They were so strong that they could seriously hurt any being, yet they determined us fit to ride them for hours. They carried the strongest man and the littlest girl. Their bravery and intelligence kept surprising me every time I met one.

The stable was probably something I would always dream off. Large, clean stables filled with the best of the best horses from around the nine realms. I used to sneak into the stables to pet the horses when I first started working as a guard. I had missed the horses that ran wild around our house. It had taken me ages to be able to touch them, but I hadn't minded. Just watching as they ran around the forest until they reached the clearing. Them playing in the clearing and at the river when I was washing clothes. That was enough for me. The horse we had at home for the farm work was often busy and most of the time I couldn't ride him. When it was winter and he had more free time, I was so much more busy because of the extra chores.

I managed to ride him regularly though, first in secret, after just not caring what my family thought about it. His name was Ameno, meaning the soft breeze. I loved that horse, even when he threw me of, or when he didn't want to run with the wild herd. I understood and accepted, never forcing him to do anything.

So when I had a tour around the stables on my first day, one name in particular had caught my eye. Ameno. There was a horse here called Ameno. His dappled, gray head looked nothing like the brown stallion I had left behind at home, but something inside me just clicked. This was the horse I wanted to ride.

None of the other guards liked him though, and he was never picked to go to battle with a soldier. They said he was slow and lazy. I knew different. I could see the intelligence in his large brown eyes, the knowledge he carried in his pointed ears. I was the first ever to choose him when training for the cavalry, and I was the first ever to ride him on guard duty. And suddenly he had become my unofficial horse. None of the other guard wanted him except me, so I got the privilege.

It really did feel as a privilege to ride this horse, who lived up to his name so much. He was in every way like the soft breeze, filled with promises and joy. I always loved the first warm breeze of spring, it was calming in a way to know winter was coming to an end. Both the Ameno's were very calm and felt very secure when riding. However the Ameno from the royal stables held with him the promise of something more. I still did not know of what more it was not a secret he had revealed to me as of yet, but it was still so much different than the old Ameno at home, who knew he was never going to be anything more than a farmers horse.

When I entered I could see a small, grey head hanging over the stable. Ameno nickered at me, urging me to move faster. However he wasn't the only dappled, grey horse that wanted my attention today. I could hear Sleipnir nicker and stomp in his stable. I could even see the wall he was behind shake with the force of his kicks. Figures that a horse with eight legs has quite the mean kick. Sleipnirs stable was all the way to the back, opposite the tack room. Ameno's stable was next to the tack room, so that meant when visiting Ameno, I also visited Sleipnir.

The grey, eight-legged horse was a legend, ridden by the one and only Allfather. Mothered by prince Loki. It had been quite the scandal when this little detail had been leaked from the castle, and the prince had to live in shame for quite some time. That was until Sleipnir proved himself to be the fastest horse alive, and probably also the smartest.

In the stables he had a different legend though. The most dangerous horse around. With eight legs to kick, and teeth to bite, added with the strength of the gods, this horse was no play around. His stable was the biggest of all, and also had the thickest walls. Where the other horses could stick their heads out, Sleipnirs stable was closed off with thick metal bars, to make sure he wasn't able to bit any of the guards or stable hands. Only a few could handle the horse, one being Loki off course, and that meant Sleipnir spend most of his time locked up in his stall.

I hopped over to Ameno to give him his apple, before heading over to the stable Sleipnir was currently breaking down.

Sleipnir whinnied and looked me in the eyes before settling down, he knew he would not get his apple otherwise. It did not matter how often I saw this horse, the intelligence in his eyes always astounded me. It felt like I was looking into eyes as old as the universe. Eyes that had knowledge I would never be able to comprehend.

I quickly unlocked his stable, not wanting to anger him by making him wait any longer than necessary, and slipped in. He happily took the apple from my hand, and while munching on me let me pet him. His soft and warm coat did look a bit dirty, and less shiny today. I frowned as I continued to stroke him, seeing the dirt cling to my hands. He had not been brushed. Not in quite some time. With a last pat on his neck I exited his stable, and closed the thick door. I walked back along the hallway until I found what, or rather who I was looking for.

Rayar was the head stable hand. He was currently checking one of the other horses. I gestured for him to come to me, and pointed towards Ameno. I knew he would come over when he was done checking the horse, so I headed back to Ameno and started brushing.

About ten minutes passed and I was about ready with brushing Ameno when Rayar came up to me.

'What can I help you with today Lady Kyra? Is something wrong with Ameno? I hope it is okay we didn't tack him up for you, but I know you rather do it yourself.'

I quickly shook my head to show him Ameno was fine, and shaking my hand in front of my chest signing it was fine that he hadn't tacked up Ameno. I did rather do it myself, as I was the one who had to ride and rely on both the horse and the tack.

He quickly relaxed after that, a serious complaint from a guard of my position could give him quite the trouble.

'What is it then?'

I pointed to Sleipnir who was watching us from his stable.

'Sleipnir? What is wrong with him?' I could see worry on his face. Sleipnir was an important horse, it was unacceptable if something was wrong with him.

I pointed to my brush, to Sleipnir and then to Ameno. Hoping for him to understand me without having to write it down.

'Sleipnir and a brush…' I could almost see the wheels turn in Rayars head. 'He hasn't been brushed?' he questioned me. I nodded, happy he had guessed on his own.

'Aye my Lady, it is true he hasn't been brushed as of late. The brute has been hurting so much of my helpers, no one wants to enter his stable. All are afraid of him.'

I pointed to myself and to the door of the stable and to Sleipnir. Not many were able to walk Sleipnir to the pasture, but as he had taken a liking to me I was. Rayar was a big, strong bulky man, and together with about four of five other men he had been able to the last few times, but it was not something he liked doing.

'We would appreciate if you did my Lady. We asked prince Loki, but he said he had no time to do the job of a simple servant.'

That made my blood boil, poor Sleipnir just needed to run to let go off some of his excess energy. And his mother was too lazy to take proper care of him. Such a lazy, stuck up prince!

I closed Amenos stable, grabbed Sleipnirs halter and crossed the hallway. Sleipnir almost jumped out of his stable with excitement when he saw his halter. I stood still in front of his stall, waiting for him to calm down. Not even I was able to control him when he was like this. He whinnied and stomped his hooves down in a thundering sound, urging me to come in. I was not budging though, and he quickly composed himself. I squinted my eyes at him, and he let his head hang low, my cue that he was going to behave. Thus I walked in, put the halter on him, and nodded to Rayar to open the stable.

'Sleipnir is coming through!' He shouted through the stable before shoving open the door. Sleipnir wanted to take a run for it but I quickly held him back. Walking with big, strong steps, my shoulder high, I showed to him that he had to listen to me.

His hooves slammed on the concrete floor with every step, and it felt like thunder itself was walking next to me. We walked to the biggest field, where Rayar opened the fence and I quickly unleashed the rope on his halter. How much I may have wanted, there was no way for me to let him enter this pasture in a quiet and organised manner. I could be glad he had behave like he had.

As I saw him dash and jump through the field and disappear out of view towards the far end, I wished I was allowed to put him out every day. I couldn't though, part due to my job, and part because it wasn't allowed. Odin did not want his trusted steed to be hurt, or in danger of it. When he was running free in the field, he could be hurt, or worse he could jump the fence and disappear. So the rule was that he could only go outside when he really had to. The man in charge of that decision was Rayar. He had probably decided that today was one of those necessary times for the horse to run around outside, before he killed someone.

'Thank you my Lady. I wish you would not have to do such a harmful job as handling that horse.' Rayar sighed as he looked to Sleipnir. 'But it is quite the magnificent creature isn't he?'

I nodded and patted him on his arm, signalling I did not mind. I loved Sleipnir, and was happy to help Rayar whenever he needed it.

I headed back to the stable to tack up Ameno. I had to head up before someone noticed how late I was. I did not want to lose the opportunity to ride.

Within minutes Ameno was tacked up and we headed off into the forest. Time to find some bandits I smiled to myself, before urging Ameno to pick up the pace.


	3. Chapter 3

**yess chapter 3. This is a long one guys! And finally some Loki interaction!**

* * *

We had been riding for over an hour when I finally found the first clue to recent activity. Footsteps, and many of them on a path not usually used by any.

A group of approximately ten had crossed through here, before they split up into two groups of both five members. I decided to first follow the group that was heading in the direction of the castle before backtracking and following the other group.

It was slow and precise work following the traces, luckily for me they did not try to hide their passing. Still I lost them quite a few times. On the hard rocky ground that could be found in some parts, their footprints would disappear and I would have to search until I found their general direction. After an hour of tracking we had reached the backside of the castle, where I could see the stables in the distance and even further the training grounds. They kept heading in that direction, and soon I had found out the spot I was looking for. A watchpost, just in the forest, with a clear view of the training ground.

I dismounted Ameno and tied him to one of the trees to make sure he wouldn't wander. He was trained to stand still but his stable was so close that he might just decide he liked it better to go home than stand around and wait. After all we had been riding since early morning, and it was almost mid-day by now.

I searched the area, but came up empty. Whoever it had been, had been coming here regularly but had not left any clues as to who they were. I found it odd that they would be watching the trainingfield. Nothing ever really happened there except well training. I grabbed my notebook to write down what I had found out, before mounting Ameno to backtrack to where they had split off. If this party had been watching us, for who knows how long, then maybe the other party was the one with the info. Maybe they would lead me somewhere.

When we had almost reached the rendes-vouz point I picked up on the distinct sound of hooves. Quickly I steered Ameno from the path and into the thick bushes. I left him standing there after I dismounted and crouched towards the path. Within minutes a satin, black horse came into view, with on its back a rider covered in black leather with green and gold ornaments. Only one person was possible of riding around like that. Loki.

I sighed before heading back to Ameno. There was no way that the prince was involved in any of this. I did not know what he was doing here, but maybe he was just taking a ride. Instead of taking care of Sleipnir I thought while angrily gritting my teeth. Loki was his mother, and thus he was allowed to ride the beautiful stallion. He never did though, and I had never even seen him visit Sleipnir. It made me sad to think how that must hurt Sleipnir. He was such a sensitive horse, he deserved a better family than he had.

I waited for the sound of hooves to pass before I walked to the path and picked the other than I had just used. This one was very small and hardly visible, which meant it would not be smart to ride. Instead I moved the reins over Amenos head, tied them to my belt and started to walk. I had been concentrating so much on following what little traces they had left, this group had tried not to be followed for sure, that it was up to Ameno to safe me from walking right into the black horse I had seen earlier.

Ameno threw his head back, pulling me by my belt back where I fell inelegantly on my behind.

'Hehe I have never seen anyone fall quite so stupid and yet Quiet Lady.' Loki snickered from atop his horse.

Under his loud laughing I stood up and forced myself to bow. I wanted to leave here as quickly as possible. Sadly there was no way of getting past him, his horse filled the whole path. He saw me looking, and apparently decided that he was not yet ready with irritating me.

'Do you want to go anywhere? You may pass, but only if you ask off course. It is out of question for you to just pass your prince in silence now, isn't it?' He snickered. 'You know Lady Kyra, communication is so very important, don't you think so?'

By this time I was already boiling with anger. He just had to make fun of me every single time we met. It was quite obvious that I would not be able to ask him for anything. I redirected my gaze trying to focus on anything at all to tone down my anger when something caught my eye. Just right of the place I was standing in was a foot print. That on its own was nothing out of the ordinary as a group had just travelled through here, but this particular print was not facing in the direction of the path. It was facing right to the bushes.

Carefully I stepped closer, only now seeing the broken branches. Someone had entered through here, and it had been recent as the branches weren't dried out yet. With a soft tug on the reins I pulled Ameno forward to pass through the bushes.

Remembering who I was leaving behind, I quickly bowed before stomping through the bushes. The small victory I felt as I didn't have to pass the prince felt really very good. But I guess I had to thank him for this discovery too.

'Wait where do you think you are going?!' Loki shouted from the path. I decided the best thing to do was probably ignore him and pushed through. After a few metres the bushes ended and a new path was visible. Much larger than the one I had just left. I quickly mounted Ameno again and trotted up the path. Within seconds though I had company. Company in form of a beautiful black horse, and a stuck-up prince, who admittedly was quite handsome too.

His emerald green eyes scanned the surroundings before he spoke up.

'I did not know this path existed.'

That surprised me. He knew the forest better than any I knew. If he did not know about this path, that must mean someone really wanted to keep it a secret. With a sigh I understood he would have to help me. I knew nothing of most of the forest as I usually stuck to the direct surroundings of my house. The prince however was known to roam these forests for years. It surprised me he had never discovered the path, but as I looked to the thick brushes around the path it did not surprise me. This was well hidden from all sort of eyes. Even from the green ones of the prince.

With a sigh I grabbed the small notebook I always carried and quickly scribbled down my question before handing it to him.

'I might not know the path itself, but I am familiar with these woods. And as I am not blind I can see in which direction it stretches.' Loki answered before tossing the book back.

'It hardly is necessary for you to write down those things, as I am your superior you should only listen from now on. Something I believe even you are able off. Especially as the only female who can't blabber around.' He snickered before signalling his horse to walk forward.

'What? You are not even going to tell me I am wrong? You know the silent agree don't you.' He called back at me.

Deciding it was not smart to start a fight with him, I patted Ameno on the neck before following him. This might become very interesting.

The path continued throught the forest until it almost reached the nearby village. Circling just around the houses, still hidden by the thick brush, it was probably the best path I had ever seen for someone wishing to remain hidden. Once completely circled around the village the path stopped at a thick brush, where upon closer inspection people had been coming through. We did the same, and ended up on one of the main roads to the fields.

Tracking here would be of no help, as hundreds of people came through here every day, and the prince seemed to know it.

'Whoever made this path certainly knew what he was doing. Once they reached here, they can easily dissapear without worrying of any tracks they left behind. There would be no way to find out where they were going, if someone was following them.'

He scrunched his brow in thought. I wondered if this was what he was like when serious. He hadn't spoken a single word to me, had not made a single joke about my missing voice. I liked this part of him, the part that did not feel the need to belittle me and joke about me. This was a part of the Prince I had never seen before and I doubted many have.

He sighed before turning his horse towards the castle. 'We should head back lady Kyra.' He looked towards me and I looked into his large, green eyes. I couldn't remember the last time I had looked in his eyes and saw them really look at me. They seemed so sincere, so different than the person they belonged to.

I nodded and signed Ameno to walk along. We rode in silence next to each other for quite some while before he spoke up.

'It seems I own you an apology my Lady.' Loki suddenly spoke up. Looking at me from the corners of his eyes. I shot him a questioning look.

'My brother made clear my behaviour of yesterday was… not proper. It seems that I have allowed my ego to take judgement over something I shouldn't have, and for that I apologize.'

By then my mouth was probably so far open in shock that I looked like the stupidest person alive. I shook my head in order to shake the shock before I bowed deeply to him. Not the sarcastic bows I usually gave him but the bow he deserved for his behaviour right now. It had to be difficult to admit mistake, and I was thankful he was. It seemde their was a side to the prince I had never seen before. A side I quite liked.

We rode on in a comfortable silence for a while. We were getting closer to the castle, when I suddenly heard a loud whinny followed by the thundering sound of eight hooves slamming in the ground. Sleipnir came slipping around the corner in full speed, and managed to stop just in front of us.

A surprised sound escaped me at the same thing loki shouted: 'Sleepy? What are you doing here!'

He jumped from his horse and ran towards the grey stallion that was dancing around in front of us.

'What are you doing here young man! You shouldn't run away it is dangerous. I father hears of this he will certainly lock you up!' Loki hugged Sleipnir around his large neck and burried his face in his long mane. Sleipnir bowed his head and softly rubbed with his lips over Loki's back.

I felt like I was invading a very private moment but I was curious too. I had never seen Loki anywhere near his son. Even seen him tell the stable hands to do their work and not bother him. The affection he was showing now stood so strong against that.

'Lady Kyra. Do you have any idea why he is not in his stable?' Loki spoke up, still strocking Sleipnir.

I quickly grabbed my notebook, writing: _I put him in the pasture this morning. I was supposed to put him back when I returned. Maybe he jumped the fence?_

Handing the notebook to Loki he grunted before grabbing Sleipnir at both sides of his face. The horse stared back at him, completely focused and looking a bit guilty.

'Listen to me Sleepy. We are going to bring you back to the pasture and you are going back in their. You will stay their until Kyra comes to get you do you understand? We can only hope no one has noticed you have left, or you will have to face Odin's wratch.'

He sighed before turning to me. 'Could you grab my horse?' I nodded and grabbed the reins of the black horse he had been riding before turning back to see Loki sit on top of Sleipnir. That surprised me even more. If someone saw him, all hel would broke loose, but when I saw his green-gold magic change Sleipnir into a normal horse I understood. He was trying to hide Sleipnir.

We galloped back to the castle before taking a smaller path that ran next to the pastures. It was a path used to guard the castle and normal civillians weren't allowed on it. The only ones seeing us here would be guards.

'Which pasture was he in Kyra?' Loki shouted over the whipping wind. I blushed by his use of my front name, before pointing towards the pasture on the far end. It was the largest of them all running from the stables all the way to the end.

'We might be in luck. That pasture is so big that it won't be that strange to not see him for some time.'

We skidded to a halt at the end of the pasture. So far from the stables that we wouldn't be visible. Loki dropped his magic and slid towards the ground. He hugged the large horse one last time.

'Now go back Sleepy. I promise to you that I will visit tonight.'

Sleipnir whinnied loudly before jumping the gate with ease. Loki climbed back on his horse and steered towards the stables, not once looking back at Sleipnir who was whinnying loudly but he could not fool me. I could see his back was as riggid as a stone. He was sad, probably because he had to leave Sleipnir like this, but he was not willing to show it.

I quickly caught up with him and we rode in silence towards the stables. We were greeted by Rayar who took Loki's horse.

'Lady Kyra could you bring Sleipnir back in? We fear he might jump a fence with the way he has been acting these last few minutes.'

I was about to nod when Loki spoke up. 'I will retrieve Sleipnir from his pasture.' He walked away with long strides. I knew that Sleipnir would probably not let himself be caught that easily, so I quickly unsaddled Ameno and rubbed him down. I had just put him in his stall when a familliar sound was heard. The gate of an eight legged horse was probably the weirdest thing I had ever heard, and I knew Sleipnir was coming in.

Rayar came dashing in, quickly opening up the stable across the hall for Sleipnir. It had been scrubbed clean, and I was sure Sleipnir would appreciate that.

Loki lead him into his stall, took his halter off and padded him on the neck. He then exited the stable and locked the doors before walking towards me. Rayar gave me a strange look before walking towards Loki's steed at the beginning of the stable. He probably still needed to rub the black stallion down.

I turned my head towards Loki when I suddenly felt a knife bite in my neck. Loki looked down on me with a vicious anger in his eyes. I could see fear their too, and was soon able to place it when he hissed to me: 'If you speak one word of Sleepy's escape today, or that I have handled him you will loose more than just your voice.'

After that he quickly dissapeared from the stables. Leaving me with only my thoughts. I wondered why he would be so afraid of anyone finding out he handled Sleipnir. I understood the part about not telling Sleipnir jumped the fence but Sleipnir was his son, surely he would be able to love him?

I locked Ameno's stable. Ready to report back before heading home. I patted Ameno goodnight and started walking towards the door, when a soft whinny had me turning around. Sleipnir was standing in his stable, looking very sad, emotions swirling in his dark eyes. Eyes that suddenly reminded me of green ones, with as much dept as these had. And maybe with as much pain as these had.

And as I walked towards the guards quarters, and later home, those eyes kept following me through the night.


	4. Chapter 4

p class="MsoNoSpacing"strongspan lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Chapter 4/span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"Time flowed on as it always had. After my report about the stake-out just outside the training field and the invisible path, guarding had been doubled. No guard walked alone, always together and no more than five minutes was alowed to pass between the rounds. No one would be able to enter the castle without being seen. Still worry lingered the air. Who was this invisible enemy? And more importantly what was their plan… /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"The extra security measures meant that besides sleep and work I hardly did anything at all. I had been appointed a partner, but he had dissaproved of me saying a mute women hardly could be considered a help in guarding the palace. Many had followed and thus I had been appointed to standing guard in and around the throne room. This mostly meant I was opening and closing doors or standing around looking dangerous to scare of potential threats./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"The ride with the prince and his apology together with his handling of Sleipnir bugged my thoughts on the long shifts of standing guard. Many hours of wandering thoughts had not provided me with an answer. I still wondered what precisly was the relationship between Loki and Sleipnir. If it was as loving as I thought it was, I wondered why he was so afraid. I wondered why he would have given his son to Odin if he loved him so dearly and why he never came to the stables to take care of Sleipnir./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"The long days of work tired me so much I wasn't able to properly train. I did some light training at my home to keep up the muscles I had, but proper sword practice took to much time and energy. This meant that I had not seen Thor around much except when he walked past me standing guard. Same could be said for his darker shadow that seemed to haunt my thoughts so much. Loki hurried past me on many a occasion but he had not spoken many a word to me except his usual tainting./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"And still time went on. When no threat came, safety measures became less and less until we were on our usual schedual. I took up my sword practices, and the physical training allowed me to stop thinking about Loki and Sleipnir. The princes however never joined. They were busy helping their father rule the country and this made me glad. I don't think I could stand seeing Loki any more often than I saw him now. His eyes streaking past mine only made me wonder more who really was behind the facade of the perfect trickster prince. I had seen a bit when he apologized to me, and I had seen more in his handling of Sleipnir. It was not for nothing that my grandpa always told me that you can only see the true man in his handling of a horse. Sleipnir wasn't exactly a horse but I figured it still counted./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"My usual hacking on the dummy I had set up for practice was cut short when Neal one of my small group of friends tapped me on the back. For me he had learned signing, and through him I was able to communicate fairly easy with others. However he had been granted the honour of becoming captain of his own guard which meant I hardly ever saw him any more. He had wanted to take me into his squad of guards but I had declined. It would feel too much like he was doing me a favour, and I wanted to reach higher on my own strength. Then there also was the small problem of him fancying me. How could I accept his offer if I knew he wasn't objective towards me. It could ruin his carreer and would damage mine. Not to mention that the feelings weren't exactly returned from my side. I liked Neal. He was a great guy, sweat, strong and caring. The perfect man for many a women. Sadly not for me. I saw him as a close friend, a brother maybe, but not more. There would be no romantic future for us. Neal seemed to have accepted this as the gentleman he truly was, and made no big deal out of it. We were still friends, and we still talked a lot./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"'Have you heared?' He said to me./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emspan lang="EN-GB"What happened? /span/emspan lang="EN-GB"I signed back to him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"He grinned to me, clearly happy to start telling th story. I could see him almost beaming with energy as he started. 'It is prince Loki. He had cut of the golden hair of Sif, Thor's wife, and when he went to the Dwarves on svartalfheim he made a bet. He bet /spanspan lang="EN-GB" style="color: #2b2b2b; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"Brokkr and Sindri that they could not make creations better than those made by the sons of Ivaldi/spanspan lang="EN-GB" as gifts for the gods. And guess what?! He lost, and as punishment his lips are sown shut. The famous silver tongue has been silenced!' He laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"I did not laugh with him. Being silent myself I knew what a terrible fate it was, and it seemed like quite a harsh punishment. Then again I did not know of what Loki made a deal with them. If he had agreed to this fate then perhaps it was his own fault for making the deal in the first place./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"Neal saw me frown and was quick to apologize for laughing. He ofcourse understood why I wasn't laughing, he was my best friend after all./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"'I am truly sorry Kyra. I shouldn't be laughing about a fate already yours. That was not right by me. Will you forgive me?'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emspan lang="EN-GB"You are forgiven /span/emspan lang="EN-GB"I signed back to him. emWill you spar with me? /emI questioned quickly, hoping to change the subject. The time had erased most of the prince from my thoughts and I wasn't about to let him back in. Whatever I had seen in him I should forget about it. He would always be the vain, dark prince that I first met, just one time of him acting differently wasn't about to change my mind. I wondered how long I would have to tell myself that lie before I started to believe it myself./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"Sparring with Neal took my thoughts to more serious matters. The fact that he was able to beat me multiple times made clear how little I had been practicing and how bad my form had become. It became better after some time, and at the end of the last round it was me who helped him up from the sand instead of me biting the dust./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"'You have lost quite much of your form Kyra.. You should really practice more, I know you can do way better than this.' /spanHe commented when I pulled him from the dust./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"I nodded hopefully signing to him that I knew that already. More training was precisely why I was here today, I had to regain what skills I had lost. It was true that swordfighting wasn't easily forgotten, but it is important to stay in practice when one is aiming for perfection./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"'I saw you have the whole day free today.' Neal spoke up. 'Care to join me for a drink tonight when my shift is over?'/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"I felt inclined to decline but Neal was my friend and we hadn't spend any time together in a long time. It would also be great to spend some time with someone who could actually understand what I was saying too, and thus I nodded to him./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"'Great see you at eight in the tavern.' He grinned before taking off, probably to start his shift. I waved him goodbye and headed towards the forest for a well deserved break. My stomach was churning with hunger, and my muscles were aching already from the harsh beating they had endured./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"While walking through the forest I was focussing on relaxing different muscle groups and thus did not focus as much as I should have. I had walked this path so many times that I could probably do it with my eyes closed, and that gave a sense of safety that was not really far. Even this close to the castle bandits were roaming through the forest, using the thick brush for coverage. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"I had been slowly relaxing my sore muscles when a branch snapped close behind me. Immediatly all my senses went still, trying to figure out who or what was around me. My ears picked up the sound of breathing, and the soft crushing of sand between boots. Someone was aproaching me. I did not turn around, not letting the attacker know I had noticed him was the best tactic for now. When the breathing grew closer, I whirled around my sword swinging out to bite the attacker in the neck, and I came face to face with prince Loki. The one person I did not wish to see./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"Loki stumbled back from my sword, ungracefully tripping over his own feet while trying to stay upright. He managed while I put my sword away and quickly bowed. I was not about to apologize for attacking him. Any person would know not to sneak upon a guard, you were bound to get hurt then. He could have simply called my name, I might be mute, but I was not deaf. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"That thought escaped me as soon as I saw his face again. His mouth was sown shut, the threads forming neat X shapes on his thin lips. The red skin and dripplets of blood clearly showing the damage he had undergone. It must hurt terrible!/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"We stared at each other. Neither of us able to speak, untill I came out of my daze and motioned to my cabin, which was only a few hundred meters ahead. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"Loki nodded and followed me. While walking thousands upon thousands of thoughts swirled my mind. The loudest being: Why is he here? What does he want from me?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"We reached my cabin in an uncomfortable silence that none of us was able to break. I motioned to the chairs on my front porch, hoping he understood the message and headed in. I had not brought my notebook for training, not deeming it necessary for the activity, but it was probably the only way of communication Loki and I had right now./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"Walking back outside and sitting down next to the prince did not feel real. I couldn't quite believe that he was really here. The second prince of Asgard sitting on my porch, the dark man that had held my thoughts for so long now just because of one ride./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emspan lang="EN-GB"What can I do for you my prince? /span/emspan lang="EN-GB"I wrote down and passed the notebook on to Loki. His eyes scanned the writting before he wrote a reply. His beautiful handwriting brought mine to shame and distracted me from reading the message. I mean no one should be able to write with such a beautiful curls like that, that simply wasn't fair./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"emspan lang="EN-GB"I need your help./span/emspan lang="EN-GB" The message read when I forced myself not to be distracted by how it was written. I frowned. My help? What could he possibly be needing my help for? What could a mere guard mean to a prince?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"span lang="EN-GB"He saw me frowning and motioned to the notebook. I gave it back, understanding that he wanted to ellaborate on his statement. He started writing. Long sentences in his perfect writing, and I was trying to contain my curiosity. I was about to burst when he was finally ready. Typically the silver tongue to express himself quite so elaborate even when he can't speak./span/p  
p class="MsoNoSpacing"emspan lang="EN-GB"I can't speak any more for gods know how long. I need your help in order to communicate properly with the world around me. I couldn't possibly act out my duties as a prince of this realm when I can't speak with a living soul./span/em/p 


End file.
